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August 11, 2008

Part II: My Pal at the Olympics — Getting Thru Security with Water

Filed under: China, Olympics, Water — anne @ 7:35 am

This is the latest in a series of reports on my friend — a sportswriter for a Very Important Paper — who is now in Beijing covering the Olympics. See Part I here.

My pal says, the Chinese security folks seem to be taking a tip from the “olden days” when every monarch worth his crown had an official “food taster.”

Here’s what I mean: at all the security check-points at the various Olympic venues, you can take a bottle of water through security, if you do one simple thing:

Take a swig.

Yes, you must taste it, sip it, swallow it — in the presence of security.

Hmmm. Wonder how that would work going through TSA lines? I’d do it.

« My Pal Goes to the Olympics Part III: My Pal at the Olympics — Eating Chinese Food »

12 Comments »

Yeah… I would say that sounds like a pretty good/common sense solution.

But on second-take, I imagine that anyone trying to smuggle chemicals on-board for some sort of explosive is likely suicidal and won’t mind taking a swig of something poisonous just to get it through… assuming they can live long enough to get the job done.

Comment by wwar1ace — August 13, 2008 @ 8:10 pm
This was the practice at Hartford (BDL) about 6 years ago. Just a matter of seeing the forest through the trees.

Comment by Cigar Jon — August 13, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
That’s what they use to do here in USA. I never knew why they don’t allow that any longer.

Comment by D. — August 13, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
I like it but I wonder if someone bent on suicide would take of sip of something deadly?

Comment by Leonard P — August 13, 2008 @ 11:18 pm
I have thought before that this would work. I think they already do something like this for baby bottles.

Between a “taste” test and a sniff test, they should be able to sort things out.

It the US,this really is not a problem for us, we just fill up at a water fountain after security, but here in Europe they don’t have the water fountains. And I hate paying $3 for a bottle of water!

Comment by Scott — August 14, 2008 @ 1:41 am
Love it! Problem solved.

Comment by Patty Heinbaugh — August 14, 2008 @ 6:20 am
Problem with this strategy is that a suicide bomber is not going to have any problem tasting the liquid, unless it makes them wretch in front of security. As long as they can get it down without any noticeable reaction, this would be an easy way to evade security.

Comment by David — August 14, 2008 @ 7:16 am
I think it’s a great idea. I had to do that in Washington DC a 3-4 years ago to carry water into Holocaust Museum and Regan Bldg. OK by me.

Comment by DOC — August 14, 2008 @ 7:53 am
Hell, yes, I’d do it! Then I wouldn’t have to purchase ridiculously overpriced water at the airport. (Not to mention that, in Cairo, there’s no place to buy water at all once you go through security–nothing but the gate! I spent several thirty hours there.)

Comment by S Nelson — August 14, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Naaaaw! Makes sense. TSA is Security “theatre” and that is all about illusions of safety not actual safety.

I’ve often wondered what liquid (other then nitroglycerine) that they are worried about and as to that liquid I wonder how one would safely carry it from the curb to checkin. Maybe flammable liquids but how can that be when you can walk on the plane with two 40-ouncers of 151 proof libation without problems.

Comment by Pierce P. Cassidy — August 14, 2008 @ 9:05 am
My solution for this problem is to bring an EMPTY water bottle thru security and fill it up from the water fountain once I am thru. Sure, it’s not water from some mountain spring, but it probably wasn’t anyway!

Comment by Brian — August 14, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
Perfect! I love this idea and I’d definitely do it, too

But until TSA follows China’s lead, I’ll continue to tote my EMPTY water bottle with me, so that I can ask the nice flight attendants as soon as I board to “Fill ‘er up, please!” Then I’ve got my water as soon as I’m on the plane and I don’t bother the flight attendants nearly as often (when I fly, it tends to be internationally, hence my obsession with having enough water within reach).

Comment by Laura — August 14, 2008 @ 3:07 pm